AFL Toast Round 9: 34 Point win against the Pussies

[yaco55]

I took two main things out of the game - Hooker showed Hurley how you should play as a key defender - It got to the stage where Hooker was disregarding his opponent - It was noticeable that EFC played at a slower tempo in the third quarter by chipping the ball around more often and ensuring they retained possession.

 

[Pweter]

This was my first game in Melbourne since 2015. Can't say I was looking forward to it but we booked in preseason. Man I'm glad I was there.

Was it just me or did Saad take the game on more than he has in any other game this season?

If it were u10s the best players would read "team effort". We were solid across the board with many players having good to great games.

 

[yaco55]

91 tackles this week. 91 tackles last week.

Chalk and cheese between the two games and shows there are more ways to place pressure on an opposition as Goddard got ridiculed for saying last week.

Actually made Gary Lyon look more of a fool than he is usually - Lyon has little idea like many in the media.

 

[BigJoeD_]

Was it just me or did Saad take the game on more than he has in any other game this season?

I think he’s the sort of player you get an even greater appreciation for when you see him live.

The less pressure our backline is under due to our midfield performing, the more confidence he has to take the game on.

I thought he was excellent yesterday

 

[DERO]

This was my first game in Melbourne since 2015. Can't say I was looking forward to it but we booked in preseason. Man I'm glad I was there.

Was it just me or did Saad take the game on more than he has in any other game this season?

If it were u10s the best players would read "team effort". We were solid across the board with many players having good to great games.

You need to get in more often!

 

[Dave]

You need to get in more often!

Doesn’t everyone?

 

[Bennett.]

Was it just me or did Fantasia spend a lot more time in the middle charging in from the back or front of the square?

No, I'm pretty sure it was just Fantasia

 

[Lance Uppercut]

It's reductio ad absurdium. Yes it's frustrating that we've not produced that sort of football all season but that doesn't mean the result of the game yesterday is a negative.

Doss with the highbrow Latin smackdown. That's a like from me

 

[Bennett.]

Doss with the highbrow Latin smackdown. That's a like from me

As long as next week for GWS it's Damnatio ad bestias

 

[jmoo wan]

what i really liked about Smack’s game was how good he was at footballing.

 

[Summer Nights]

We’re a team with a high reliance on individual acts of brilliance to charge up our intensity meter.

What was the best about the game was the teamwork; I reckon we had more taps to advantage/knock-ons than any preceding game this year. I reckon shepherds would be right up there, too.

 

[Towno78]

Really like our rebound coming from Saad and McKenna rather than Hurley. Said last year we needed to get the ball in Conor's hands more often, now same applies for either.

 

[schmuttt]

You guys were bloody fantastic for three quarters yesterday, understandable they were cooked in the last with the game wrapped up but really if it wasn’t for some poor kicking you would have won by 70.

The attack on the ball and man was superb, Merrett/Heppell/Baguley lead the way in that department. Hooker was brilliant down back and as a neutral I’m genuinely puzzled at why Langford hasn’t been played more this year. Tippa and Fantasia were in everything in the forward half and I really liked Ridleys game. Think you lot are a very good chance against the Giants, they look shocking atm. Only problem is a monster effort like that first three quarters won’t come every week.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

As long as next week for GWS it's Damnatio ad bestias

 

[Sockeye]

I took two main things out of the game - Hooker showed Hurley how you should play as a key defender - It got to the stage where Hooker was disregarding his opponent - It was noticeable that EFC played at a slower tempo in the third quarter by chipping the ball around more often and ensuring they retained possession.

Yes. All year we have been practicing playing slow tempo football.

Now we are blending last years 'run and gun' in with the 'slow tempo' football we have been working on. In the first half we played on consistently. We haven't done that since the Freo debacle. You could see how much the players enjoyed being unshackled and how their confidence grew with each goal.

Last year we probably would have let Geelong back in to the game, and then had to go again. In this game we shut the gate in the third quarter by controlling the ball and slowing the tempo and making it hard for them to score. They put in to practice what they have been learning.

Perhaps Neeld left because the training for that 'slow tempo' phase of our game plan is finished.

Perhaps the lack of direction during games from the coaches box so far this year was partly deliberate. They wanted the players to be able to recognise the oppositions set up and momentum and readjust our game style as the quarter unfolds. Obviously this caused some of the confusion we have seen this year but also helped teach the players how to do it. Helped teach the leadership group how to signal it and communicate it through the team.

Woosha has been alluding to this all year, (eg. think of the criticism of McKenna after the Freo game) but perhaps the experts on fox footy don't get it.

 

[Andronicus]

I quite liked that game.

 

[MarkG]

Actually made Gary Lyon look more of a fool than he is usually - Lyon has little idea like many in the media.

It wasn't the tackles as much as the young guys hurling their bodies in and under and getting first possession so they had to tackle us. This is something that guys like Myers can't do. He simply stands there and block space. Our guys (Smith, Guelfi, Fantasia, Walla, Clarke.. even Langford) were continually in and under.

We don't need to tackle them if we have the ball.

And then the tackles that we did make were far more telling and at pace, not just grabbing a guy that is 0.5 metres away in a congested game.

 

[ghostdog]

Yes. All year we have been practicing playing slow tempo football.

Now we are blending last years 'run and gun' in with the 'slow tempo' football we have been working on. In the first half we played on consistently. We haven't done that since the Freo debacle. You could see how much the players enjoyed being unshackled and how their confidence grew with each goal.

Last year we probably would have let Geelong back in to the game, and then had to go again. In this game we shut the gate in the third quarter by controlling the ball and slowing the tempo and making it hard for them to score. They put in to practice what they have been learning.

Perhaps Neeld left because the training for that 'slow tempo' phase of our game plan is finished.

Perhaps the lack of direction during games from the coaches box so far this year was partly deliberate. They wanted the players to be able to recognise the oppositions set up and momentum and readjust our game style as the quarter unfolds. Obviously this caused some of the confusion we have seen this year but also helped teach the players how to do it. Helped teach the leadership group how to signal it and communicate it through the team.

Woosha has been alluding to this all year, (eg. think of the criticism of McKenna after the Freo game) but perhaps the experts on fox footy don't get it.

Without having seen the game, I did see that our own scoring dried up by the third quarter... what happened there? Last three goals (?) to let the Cats close the gap a bit would have annoyed me.

 

[ghostdog]

It wasn't the tackles as much as the young guys hurling their bodies in and under and getting first possession so they had to tackle us. This is something that guys like Myers can't do. He simply stands there and block space. Our guys (Smith, Guelfi, Fantasia, Walla, Clarke.. even Langford) were continually in and under.

We don't need to tackle them if we have the ball.

And then the tackles that we did make were far more telling and at pace, not just grabbing a guy that is 0.5 metres away in a congested game.

I did notice though, that we won tackle count and had more of the ball as well. I love that.

 

[Lore]

Without having seen the game, I did see that our own scoring dried up by the third quarter... what happened there? Last three goals (?) to let the Cats close the gap a bit would have annoyed me.

Heavy legs I think. Particularly in the fourth, looked like we were running in quicksand. The effort was still there, just not the pace. To be fair, Geelong looked like that from start to finish, but given our game is built on speed, their lack of speed is not as detrimental to them as ours is to us, which allowed them to play a bit more freely in the last.

 

[Doss]

Maybe it's partly a case of having no one who can really run with Fantasia, or at least do a defensive job on him; but that's two years in a row against Geelong now where it seemed like he was paid no respect, and that's pretty silly coaching.

I think in the end, Geelong seemed to kind of just turn up and expect it would all just happen for them, and by the time they awoke from their slumber, they were seven goals behind. What was impressive was how we then completely shut the game down and didn't allow them even the slightest sniff.

I'd suggest, even allowing for Geelong's frailties, that it was our most complete performance in at least half a season.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

What was impressive was how we then completely shut the game down and didn't allow them even the slightest sniff.

Yep couldn't agree more was really impressive.

 

[Dave]

Without having seen the game, I did see that our own scoring dried up by the third quarter... what happened there? Last three goals (?) to let the Cats close the gap a bit would have annoyed me.

Kicked 4.10 from midway through. Big sticks boys, big sticks.

 

[DallasCrane316]

Was it just me or did Saad take the game on more than he has in any other game this season?

He’s done it before. However, the difference here is he took the game on AND the team made options for him up forward.

Previously, he’s taken the game on and had to run backwards etc because there was no one to kick to.

 

[Andronicus]

Who is more pissed off with the win? Mask mcgee or Macca?